-
5 (50) 4 (116) 3 (106) 2 (68) 1 (12) 3.6 starsAverage score of 352 user reviews
-
God, I Miss That Miniskirt Already. 0
Blackhawks adds another military themed series to the New 52 along with a very, very obvious comparison to a certain other military themed intellectual property that DC does not currently hold the license for. That comparison aside, Blackhawks is an interesting new series that touches on a currently unexplored area of the DC Universe, though it will have to step it up a notch if it really wants to hold onto a place in the new continuity.Yes, this is G.I. Joe. It's no coincidence that it is G.I. ...
4 out of 4 found this review helpful. -
Sorry, This Is More Like the Average Hawkman 0
Tony Daniel and Philip Tan add the Savage Hawkman to the list of DC relaunches that are bankrupt of any new or interesting ideas for what to do with its lead character. They simplify Hawkman down to an unremarkable superhero character and mistakenly seem to bank entirely on a slight, all-too-convenient twist on his powers as being enough to carry the readers' interest.It's very understandable to want to strip the character of Hawkman down to get rid of so much of the convoluted continuity the ch...
1 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
I Need a Twenty 0
Voodoo may be the latest DC title to rile up the prudish, but it's also another well done launch of a title to take the time to focus on character and atmosphere. That is, if you're mature enough to see anything other than the boobies.When it comes to the new Wildstorm titles, Voodoo is far more similar to Grifter than Stormwatch. This is a slow first issue, and it focuses mainly on introducing us to the main character rather than quickly delving into plot. Rather than follow Voodoo like we did ...
4 out of 4 found this review helpful. -
This Book Needs Wraparound Covers Just to Fit the Title 3
Gail Simone and Ethan Van Sciver bring us their reinvention of Firestorm in the ridiculously long-titled the Fury of Firestorm: the Nuclear Men. It's a busy first issue that struggles with itself to balance out the need to lay out all the groundwork for the plot while also introducing readers to its two leads. It manages that pretty well, though, and so the DC Universe has a new start to its Firestorm mythos.Fury of Firestorm, which is what I will be shortening the crazy title to from now on, is...
3 out of 3 found this review helpful. -
If Miss Martian Loses the Skirt, I Riot. 3
Perhaps one of the most controversial of the New 52 relaunches, Teen Titans' first issue really doesn't do much to change or alleviate that controversy. It is what people expected it to be, a near complete reinvention of the team and characters that wipes out the bulk of their history. Is this reinvention an improvement on what has come before? It's really not, but it is not notably worse either.Scott Lobdell has come up with a clever premise of his own to bring this version of the team together...
3 out of 3 found this review helpful. -
Hopping Down the Bunny Trail 1
After a troubled start, Batman: the Dark Knight returns with the aid of Paul Jenkins in the writer's chair to hopefully keep it on time. But even as we have Batman facing a deadly riot at Arkham Asylum, this new first issue doesn't give much reason for why this series should have returned.There is a weird sense to deja vu reading this issue. Bruce Wayne makes an inspirational speech about his plans for the future of Gotham City. He meets a lot of people at the very same social function, includin...
5 out of 5 found this review helpful. -
What? They Skipped Over the Sex? Did They Not Get the Memo? 1
I, Vampire proves itself to be the sleeper hit of the week, presenting a chilling and dark take on the relatively unexplored area of vampires in the DC Universe. Andrew Bennett returns as the centuries old vampire standing between his people and humankind's destruction.This easily had to be the most maligned of the New 52 when the announcements first rolled out, and I can't say it was all entirely baseless. Can you really blame anyone for reacting badly to this cover and the promotional material...
10 out of 10 found this review helpful. -
Writer Wanted: Artists and Colorists Need Not Apply 1
The Flash kicks off with some very kinetic and appealing art from Francis Manapul as we get a look at the new Barry Allen. Unfortunately, the book does not really have a writer writing it, and frankly, that really shows.Having not really even said anything yet, I already feel like I am being mean here. I could go on and on about how great I think the art is on this issue. It's even better than it was on the previous volume of this title. Flash looks great even with all his seams, which if you sp...
5 out of 6 found this review helpful. -
He Doesn't Talk to Fish. He Gossips with Dolphins, Though. 2
To probably no one's surprise, Aquaman delivers on its long-awaited relaunch as Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis give us an Arthur Curry who can easily carry his own series among the best. The creepy and well done introduction of a new threat really elevates this issue, and Reis' art is amazing throughout.Johns and Reis have effectively already done the work of selling readers on Aquaman with Blackest Night and Brightest Day, so many are coming into this with the belief that Aquaman can be a main playe...
7 out of 7 found this review helpful. -
Goo Goo G'joob 1
Peter Tomasi returns to relaunch Green Lantern Corps and is joined by artist Fernando Pasarin to put the spotlight on Guy Gardner and John Stewart. It's a solid issue but hardly a good introduction to the Green Lantern mythology as it expects readers to already be familiar with all the basics.The issue starts with Guy and John looking to reestablish their roots on Earth through getting some kind of employment. It's not really explained why both men have this sudden interest in doing so. In fact,...
2 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
This Legion's Not Lost, But It Tells You to Get Lost 0
Apparently not caring that there is a big relaunch going on, Paul Levitz continues his Legion of Super-Heroes run with no acknowledgement of the purpose of these new #1s. It's good news for regular readers, but for anyone else, you are apparently not invited to join in.Why exactly does the Legion of Super-Heroes get to escape the revamp? I can understand DC being reluctant to leave Green Lantern and Batman untouched, but the Legion? It was only a modest success for DC in the months leading up to...
4 out of 4 found this review helpful. -
Superheroes and Churches Never Seem to Mix Well 0
Duane Swierczynski and Jesus Saiz reinvent the Birds of Prey as a group of women caught in a conspiracy thriller in this new series, trying to remake the team almost from scratch due to the loss of Oracle from the DC Universe. It is a well done effort in its own right but seems unlikely to win over the fanbase of the former Birds of Prey.Swiercynski starts the story off with events already in progress and immediately starts giving readers questions. However, this isn't actually a bad thing. They...
4 out of 4 found this review helpful. -
Good, But Didn't I Just Read This? 1
Blue Beetle is a good but unnecessary reboot of a character who is only a few years old. Because of this, it can't help but feel like a rehash of a series that many Blue Beetle fans have already recently read.The issue begins with the reintroduction the Reach and their scarab technology as it lays waste to an alien world. It is good to see that Tony Bedard will not be taking us through the mystery of whether or not the scarab is mystical or technological as the last series did. Bedard does a goo...
6 out of 7 found this review helpful. -
So... What Did Deadman Do While He Was a Stripper? 1
Kicking off with a the beginning of a Deadman story, DC Universe Presents impresses with its reboot of DC's leading ghost. Paul Jenkins and Bernard Chang reintroduce readers to Boston Brand as a man not terribly likable in life but very sympathetic in death.I'm coming into this as a reader who has basically hated everything Jenkins has written for the past several years. Before this issue, I had written him off as a writer. I would not have even tried this issue were I not making my way through ...
4 out of 4 found this review helpful. -
Snikt. 3
In Nightwing, Dick Grayson gets to be himself again, and Kyle Higgins and Eddy Barrows face the challenge of figuring out what that means as an ongoing series. This is clearly going to be a work in progress, but the creative duo hit many of the right beats in this issue and find a launching point for the character in Haley's Circus with a lot of good potential.Some disagree with Dick's return to the Nightwing identity, but this really was inevitable. Not only that, it was overdue. Bruce Wayne's ...
2 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
Even Catwoman and Starfire Have the Decency to Cover Their Knees. 0
Completely rebooting its title character, Supergirl's first issue is a good one but suffers from how it honestly doesn't offer much substance. Readers once again revisit Kara Zor-El crashing on Earth and... that is it. The moment of her awakening on Earth is handled well, but that moment is unfortunately decompressed to comprise the entire first issue.Given years of inconsistent writing, I can hardly blame DC for going back to scratch with Supergirl. There was very little history to the previous...
2 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
Move Over, Flash. Turns Out Batman's the Fastest Man Alive. 3
Catwoman bursts with sex and violence as Judd Winick lives up to his promises about his new take on Selina Kyle. This issue shows us a Catwoman who is clever, sexy and probably her own worst enemy as Selina finds herself fallen into a new hole she has to claw her way out from.The issue begins with Catwoman losing her latest apartment for the apparently usual reason, namely that she pissed someone off and they found out where she lived. You could not get a better introduction to what this Catwoma...
11 out of 15 found this review helpful. -
I Think AoA Logan Would Point Out a Flaw in This Strategy 8
Mercifully ditching the Hellfire Kiddie Club, X-Men: Schism takes a sharp rise in quality only to then stumble again when the big moment between Cyclops and Wolverine finally arrives.I have been saying from the beginning that there is a really good story here that just needs to be allowed to come out, and finally, with the exclusion of Jason Aaron's ill conceived Hellfire Club subplot, that gets to happen. We are back to focusing on the divide between Cyclops and Wolverine, which finally manages...
6 out of 7 found this review helpful. -
Wait, Why Is There a Volcano in New York? 1
Offering up some small signs of potential, Captain Atom ultimately doesn't show much else as it takes some obvious cues from the well known analogue of the title character and turns Captain Atom into a mash-up of them both. A lack of real character depth and personality dilutes it all, though.This issue features Captain Atom with a flame-like poof coming off the top of his head and with the power to apparently transmute matter. So my question is... did Firestorm's revamp come out a week early?Si...
6 out of 6 found this review helpful. -
Horsey! ...Aw. 1
The New 52 puts one of DC's iconic characters is a much darker and more dramatic atmosphere than usual in Wonder Woman. Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang present readers with an intriguing new Wonder Woman mythology where the gods are simultaneously more human and even more inhuman.Following J. Michael Stracynski's Odyssey story arc, this Wonder Woman relaunch is probably one of the least controversial of the many ones happening this month. It is a relaunch basically coming on the back of a relau...
7 out of 7 found this review helpful. -
Gotham Is Professor Pyg. 0
Joined by Greg Capullo, Scott Snyder gets the writing assignment that fans demanded and relaunches Batman. Better yet, he lives up to expectations as well, kicking off a new mystery than involves not only Batman but Bruce Wayne. It is a fantastic issue that really shows off Batman's world, though it reads more like the start of a new run than a part of the New 52's relaunches.DC's decision to basically leave Green Lantern and Batman alone results in a diminished excitement factor for those speci...
6 out of 6 found this review helpful. -
I Like What I See of This Starfire. Oh Yeah. 7
Red Hood and the Outlaws is not a book that defies expectations. It is probably exactly what you think it is. Sex, violence and a dose of immaturity. What else would you expect? This is a series that stars Starfire, Red Hood and Roy Harper. It is what it is, and it does so in an entertaining fashion.The story begins with Jason Todd helping Roy Harper out of a tough spot in the Middle East, and Starfire lends a pair of... helping hands, as well. This is not the intended formation of a team, thoug...
8 out of 14 found this review helpful. -
Fairchild, Huh? Sneaky, Lobdell. Sneaky. 0
It is a complete reboot for the character of Superboy as Scott Lobdell and R.B. Silva go all the way back to the test tube with the character. The reimagining of Superboy's origin is a creative one, but it really remains to be seen if this new Superboy will have the same appeal as previous incarnations of the character.Much of this issue is spent inside Superboy's head with his internal narration, and that is the only sense we get of his personally. Or what exists of it. It is understandable tha...
3 out of 3 found this review helpful. -
There's Something in Her Eye 1
DC succeeds with its second Wildstorm immigrant series Grifter in a back to basics approach that may surprise those expecting it to be a gun-blazing, action story from the start. This issue is instead a slow-burn origin story that eases readers in and doesn't expect any prior Wildstorm knowledge from them.The New 52 is having a way of playing with my expectations. When it came to the Wildstorm books, I expected good things from Stormwatch and to be underwhelmed by solo titles for Grifter and Voo...
4 out of 4 found this review helpful. -
At Least Ray Palmer Can Still Find Work 0
Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E. banks heavily on a sense of weirdness to draw readers into its world, but the extreme amount of it almost backfires, making the first issue a tough read to process and get into.After reading Jeff Lemire's Flashpoint: Frankenstein and the Creature Commandos, I was not expecting much from this ongoing series, because if that was a taste of things to come, it was rather bland and basic. It was such a straightforward take on the characters and concepts that nothing ...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
No Dawgs Allowed 0
Kyle Higgins and Joe Bennett nail it with Deathstroke, presenting readers with an unapologetic villain book starring one of DC's most popular villains. While it is a great book from beginning to end, what really propels it forward as an impressive new series is the swerve near the end that confirms for readers Deathstroke will not be compromised for the sake of making him the lead character in a book.The premise here is a simple but compelling one. Deathstroke is the big dog of villainous mercen...
3 out of 4 found this review helpful. -
It Tastes Like Chicken 0
Another unlikely character gets his opportunity in the spotlight in Resurrection Man and shows off that he is indeed a unique character readers can't find anywhere else. His situation, however, is another matter as it goes into very familiar territory for the sort of readers who would be interested in this kind of series.In recent years, I've been very critical of writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning. I was very high on them when their Nova series started, but they ran out of steam after a couple...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Now, This Is How You Relaunch 2
DC isn't the only one with a relaunch going on. The relaunch of the Ultimate Universe continues its roll-out of high quality titles with Ultimate Comics Spider-Man and the origin of Miles Morales, the new Ultimate Spider-Man.Much has been made of Miles Morales with sadly not a surprising amount of overblown controversy. We knew there would be a new Ultimate Spider-Man before we knew that person would be black, and the discussion about it seemed to change as soon as we found that out. Suddenly, i...
6 out of 6 found this review helpful. -
Call Child Services. Now. 0
Batman and Robin starts anew, now as a father and son duo. Their new but strained partnership prevents the threat of radioactive materials from a Gotham City, while the Russian member of Batman, Incorporated falls to a new villain who intends to come after them next. It's a solid issue of action, but it doesn't really welcome new readers nor does it really sell this new Dynamic Duo as something to base an ongoing series on.The issue begins with Batman honoring the anniversary of his parents' dea...
3 out of 3 found this review helpful. -
So kate Has a Thing for Cops 0
Kate Kane makes her much anticipated return to the shelves in this first issue of Batwoman and fares well even with the absence of writer Greg Rucka. Haden Blackman and J.H. Williams III manage to do the character justice, though this is not an ideal starting point for new readers of the character.A water-based being of some kind begins abducting and drowning Gotham City's children, and it is Batwoman on the case, even though she is still reeling from a disturbing revelation about her thought to...
3 out of 3 found this review helpful. -
Oh, Just Swear Like a Damn Grown-Up 0
Awkwardly launching a week before Legion of Super-Heroes. Legion Lost may appeal to regular fans of these characters, but it struggles to appeal to less familiar readers as it immediately throws us into the deep end of what reads like an ongoing story.Seriously, why would anyone at DC think it was a good idea to release this before the Legion of Super-Heroes relaunch? This is a spin-off of a team that hasn't yet been introduced to new readers of this big relaunch. You could not get less friendly...
3 out of 3 found this review helpful. -
Someone Give Waller a Sandwich or Twenty. 2
Another book defies expectations this week, and that is Suicide Squad. Despite the train wreck that was Flashpoint: Legion of Doom, Adam Glass manages to deliver on this premise, though not in spectacular fashion. It is a solid first issue that introduces us to who we need to know and even gives us some reasons to be interested in a few of them.When it was first announced, I was really looking forward to Suicide Squad. The premise sounded like a great one for a villain team book. Then, I read an...
5 out of 5 found this review helpful. -
Isn't Only One of Them Actually a Demon? 3
After a disappointing first launch, Paul Cornell proves himself with Demon Knights, featuring the sort of creative and original ideas and character introductions that were sorely lacking from Stormwatch.A team book set in the Dark Ages is a fairly brilliant idea that really stands out as unique among DC's other offerings, and fortunately, Cornell manages to step up to the potential of that premise here. He wisely starts off with the shared origin of Etrigan the Demon and Jason Blood before leapi...
5 out of 6 found this review helpful. -
Okay. Who Gave Atrocitus the Valium? 10
Peter Milligan and Ed Benes put the spotlight on the Red Lantern Corps but come just shy of really selling Red Lanterns as a concept deserving of an ongoing series. The overshadowing presence of Atrocitus and a seemingly out-of-place tangent in the United Kingdom hold this debut issue back from really impressing.Atrocitus, leader of the Red Lantern Corps, is one of the best new characters to come from DC in recent years, and characters like him have a lot to do with the success the Green Lantern...
3 out of 4 found this review helpful. -
No Wonder Fear Itself Needed Extra Issues Between Now and End 1
For another issue, Fear Itself wanders aimlessly and slowly to its conclusion, apparently not aware that it comes in the very next issue. The plot progresses mere inches at a time. Characters panic as if they haven't faced similar and worse threats dozens of times before. Odin stands as the sole character written with any real depth to his characterization. Basically, it's just another issue of Fear Itself.I do honestly wonder if Matt Fraction is aware that this is supposed to be a seven issue l...
6 out of 6 found this review helpful. -
Wait, Who Exactly Are the Capitals? 0
Defying my own expectations, Mister Terrific compensates for the Justice Society of America being stripped out of DC's continuity and keeps true to core aspects of the title character. It is not a perfect issue, but it a very solid start for Michael Holt's new status as a solo hero in the DC Universe.Eric Wallace puts together a good first issue here, giving us all we need to know about the main character. There was a lot of questions about how Mr. Terrific would adapt to the new DC continuity w...
6 out of 6 found this review helpful. -
Carol's Continued Interest in Hal Makes Me Think Less of Humanity 5
While not much of a first issue, Green Lantern continues Geoff Johns' historic run without missing a beat as Sinestro wields the green power ring and Hal Jordan... kicks around acting like a jerk, mostly.To begin with, this issue really doesn't do anything to try to welcome new readers. This is a seamless transition from where Johns left off in the previous volume of Green Lantern, and without the number change, you probably would have no idea this was written as the beginning of anything. As su...
9 out of 9 found this review helpful. -
The Best Thing Is That There's Not Even a Hint of Smallville 1
Action Comics lives up to the hype as Grant Morrison and Rags Morales introduce us to an exciting new Superman in the early days of his superhero adventuring. While the jury is still out on this new interpretation of the character, there is no denying that this is one hell of a good start and one of the best examples of what DC's revamped continuity has the potential to offer. Morrison looks back to Superman's original roots for this revamp, giving us a Superman that is back to being very much ...
5 out of 5 found this review helpful. -
Objects May Appear Closer... 1
Dan Didio and Keith GIffen go retro in their relaunch of O.M.A.C., replicating as much of Jack Kirby's style as they possible can. That, however, does not automatically make it good, and the duo unfortunately focus more on copying Kirby than delivering a good first issue. It is hard to describe what happens in this issue, because it jumps right into the middle of the action and leaves me immediately lost. I am a reader who is only barely familiar with Kirby's original O.M.A.C., and it feels a b...
3 out of 3 found this review helpful. -
Well, He Is Definitely Way Smarter Than I Am 0
The new Static Shock does some things wrongs but does more things right, making it overall a welcome new title in DC's line of books. By finding a unique voice for the lead character, John Rozum and Scott McDaniel narrowly avoid having Static fall into the trap of coming off as a generic teen superhero. But their reliance on Milestone continuity does more harm than good when it comes to their chances with new readers. Rather than restarting Static from scratch, this relaunch features his reloca...
8 out of 8 found this review helpful.
Use your keyboard!
- ESC
Log in to comment